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For a recent Phillips after 5 collaboration with Arena Stage, we wanted to create a game for our guests that would bridge visual arts and dramatic literature. We started with an old parlor game embraced by the surrealists known as the exquisite corpse, in which a group takes turns drawing or writing a passage on a piece of paper, then folding the paper to conceal all but a glimpse of their creation, and passing it on to the next participant. At the end, a monstrous collective work is revealed.

During Phillips after 5, we placed a notebook in the gallery where Morris Louis’s Seal is on view. Simple instructions invited passersby to use the painting as inspiration and add a line or two to an unfolding drama. Today we publish the results–complete with angst, loneliness, water, sky, a ride on the Titanic, and a penguin’s perspective–here and on Arena Stage’s Stage Banterblog.

BELLE: You were lying so quietly next to me, and then I heard you shout. You were frightened by something or someone in your dream, it seems.

SHADOW: Death comes in many guises. I will enter softly when the time is right. Meanwhile rise up and face the stormy day ahead. Who knows what you will find. Take the boat around the bay and see me there.

BELLE: I have no interest in visiting your home—I barely can tolerate you here in a neutral setting.

CHASE: Belle! Why so harsh? Shadow’s just being polite. Besides, a boat ride across the bay is quite lovely, though at this time of day not as inviting.

SHADOW: Chase, you needn’t defend me. I’ve done nothing to offend Belle so. A trip to my home could help us all understand what we saw earlier this evening.

BELLE: We saw nothing! That was just the light of the stars playing against the leaves in that stand of trees. Everything is as it should be.

CHASE: I don’t get it. What do you mean?

BELLE: I mean isn’t it romantic the way the colors remind me of nature? They’re wet—dripping with meaning.

SHADOW: And yet it’s as if they are speaking in tongues, a different language to each observer.

CHASE: How is it that you see mere shadows, while I recognize only tangible objects?

BELLE: Ugh, I hate it when you talk in the abstract.

SHADOW: My name is Shadow. I don’t think that’s very abstract.

BELLE:(pause) I hate you two. I’m leaving.

SHADOW: Suits me just fine!

BELLE: Don’t be so glib! Our very future is at stake! You never take anything seriously. It’s like you’re swimming through life.

CHASE: Maybe that’s all he’s capable of. A rootless existence, ebbing and flowing. No substance. (To Shadow) You should be ashamed.

SHADOW: I suppose I should be like you instead? Dull as dirt, happily toiling away at the grindstone, never realizing you’re grinding yourself up in the process. There is so much you don’t know.

CHASE: What could you possibly teach me? You think you’re profound when really, you don’t even know who you are. It must hurt, being cut adrift.

BELLE: Don’t you understand the beauty of the midnight quiet. When what is known becomes unknown.

CHASE: You’re not profound. Finding beauty in the quiet doesn’t make you profound.

SHADOW: Don’t ruin the calm of this night.

CHASE: I’ll do as I please. Move as I please. Slow as I please.

BELLE: You are so selfish. And if you don’t hurry, I will be more than upset.

CHASE: Be quiet. You are getting on my nerves.

SHADOW: That‘s all right Chase. Belle doesn’t know what she is doing.

BELLE: Shut up, you two. You are ruining the moment.

SHADOW: And you are interrupting the darkness I have cast in measures around me.

BELLE: Lighten up Shadow! Why do you have to bring everyone down with all your melodramatic nonsense.

CHASE: But Belle, he is merely expressing himself!

BELLE: Yeah, well the last time he expressed himself, we ended up at the bottom of a lake!

CHASE: Ah yes, that fateful April 15th when the Titanic went down. But Belle, you survived!

BELLE: Yes, well, I should say—he ended up at the bottom of the “lake.” Last time he’ll express himself like that!

CHASE: What was it like after the sinking?

BELLE: The worst part didn’t come until I was near the shore. There were ice and penguins everywhere. Oh, those dreadful penguins!

SHADOW: Oh . . . That’s the dark side of you. I like it. The three shadows in that paintings were bare foot.

Last night, the dance troupe performed excerpts from the show at Phillips after 5. Brian told me it was Step Afrika!’s first presentation in an American art museum, and I’m so pleased it happened at the Phillips. The stage come to life from the percussive energy of the dancers, and they awed the crowd! The audience clapped and sang along with the dancers; they gave the performance a standing ovation–something I’ve never seen happen in our auditorium.

This riff on the exquisite corpse was designed for any skill level. We recently did this exercise at a staff meeting and found it easy and creative.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. A piece of paper for each participant

2. A reproduction of the same work of art for each participant. I’d recommend selecting an abstract work like this Kandinsky painting. Everyone can draw lines and shapes!

3. Pen or pencil for each participant

Here’s how to do it:

1. Form groups of 4, 5, or 6.

2. Distribute paper, pens, and reproductions to each participant.

3. Ask participants to find a small portion of the reproduction that seems appealing. After they’ve selected, give 30 seconds to draw that portion of the artwork.

4. After the 30 seconds is up, instruct participants to pass their drawing to the person sitting next to them.

5. Once participants have someone else’s work, ask them to draw again for 30 seconds. Tell them that their new drawing must have a line that touches the drawing made by their colleague.

6. Repeat and pass again until participants have been returned their original drawing. Each person should end up with one piece of paper that is a collage of all of their colleagues’ work.

7. Once complete, talk about the process. What did everyone experience? How did they feel completing it?

Here’s what we learned: the exercise fostered teamwork, encouraged observation, and pushed us to take risks. We also thought this helped us shift from left-brained thinking to right–all in the space of 3 minutes! What do you think of our collective work?